- 3 hours ago
This special report features a heated debate over the outcome of the November 2025 Bihar assembly elections, where the NDA secured a landslide victory. Political commentators Rajat Sethi and Guru Prakash Paswan defend the mandate and criticise the Congress party for questioning the electoral process, while a Congress supporter raises allegations of discrepancies and bias against the Election Commission of India. One panelist, Rajat Sethi, stated, 'You have 45 days. Follow the goddamn process. Okay, you are not living in a kingdom where you are an anointed prince or a king.' The discussion also touches upon the opposition's strategy, the role of constitutional bodies, and the political road ahead for the Mahagathbandhan alliance after its significant defeat.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00We bring in Rajat Sethi and Rashid Kidwai.
00:02Now, Rajat Sethi, please come on the screen.
00:03Now, you have not given me an opportunity to speak my mind.
00:06You will not get time because you are not making the right point here.
00:08Rajat Sethi and Rashid Kidwai, please on the screen.
00:11Rajat, the question is that there was some meeting which was held by Malik Arjun Karge,
00:17the Congress Chief, in which there were other leaders,
00:21including the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, who was in attendance.
00:25But the narrative is that the election is not free and fair.
00:30On the ground, you were not seen to be working.
00:33Then why blame the election commission?
00:35Blame the people of Bihar next.
00:39Wait for it and you will see the people of Bihar will eventually be blamed.
00:42They will identify certain sweeties in Bihar and say that,
00:45see, 20 times sweetie has voted, how can we win the election?
00:48That's the lame excuses they will come up with.
00:51By the way, they have 45 days.
00:53If there is any fraud that they detected during the election,
00:56let me tell it to the Congress Party through your channel.
00:58You have 45 days.
01:00Follow the goddamn process.
01:03Okay.
01:03You are not living in a kingdom where you are an anointed prince or a king.
01:08Follow the rules that every citizen has to follow.
01:11By the election commission guidelines, you have those 45 days.
01:15Unearth any fraud and take it to the courts, take it to the election commission.
01:18Don't make sweeping statements which have zero meaning because all you are doing is presenting
01:24these platitudes without an iota of evidence whatsoever.
01:29You know, I'm hearing today on Twitter, there are a bunch of these advisors who have never
01:35contested election, who can never win a single election in their lifetimes.
01:38Now they are saying that Congress Party and the entire opposition should resign en masse
01:43and should boycott elections.
01:45They want to take the Khalida Zia route in Bangladesh.
01:48They have figured out a model that that's perhaps the best way.
01:52Now the entire public of this country, election after election, is anyway boycotting them.
01:57Let them sit in the opposition.
01:58I am telling you, nothing will happen to this country.
02:01Nobody will come out on the streets.
02:03Not even their own party workers will hit the street.
02:05Let me tell you if they want to take the societal path.
02:07We are more than happy and they are welcome to actually go out and, you know, deprive
02:13of all the, you know, these allegations that they keep doing all around and keep finding
02:17punching bags throughout the election cycle.
02:19We'll be very happy if we don't get to hear any of those.
02:23Come on, this cannot be.
02:24How sore can you be as a loser?
02:26How sore?
02:27Every single writing on the wall was clear and evident that whatever you were doing throughout
02:32the election cycle was patently wrong, wrong strategy making, wrong ticketing.
02:37Yes.
02:37Everything wrong.
02:38And then it's like a garbage in, garbage out.
02:40Let's be clear.
02:42As someone who was on the ground and reporting from the ground, it was evident that SIR was
02:48not an issue on which the vote would be cast.
02:51At best, it was a voter awareness yatra.
02:55Why blame the people of Bihar for not voting for you?
02:58You were not presenting an alternative to them.
03:00Jai Hind, Maria, if you, the BJP spokesperson on your show, the BJP supporter on your show
03:10are to be believed, then why is Ms. Nirmala Siddharaman's husband, Sri Parkala Prabhakar,
03:17saying that now BJP, after having Mahila Moorcha, Yuba Moorcha, also has an election Moorcha?
03:23Then why, Maria, were four special trains run from Haryana to Bihar between the 3rd of
03:31November and the 10th of November?
03:33Then why, Maria, was model code of conduct was flouted by the BJP in broad daylight by the
03:41NDA in broad daylight and not a single eyebrow rose?
03:45Why was RGD's complaint not answered, not acknowledged by the election commission?
03:52Why the RGD had complained during the election about the model code of conduct being flouted?
03:58Why, Maria, then in that case, the SIR, you know, the discrepancies there were not acknowledged
04:06by the election?
04:07No, ma'am.
04:07No, ma'am.
04:07No, ma'am.
04:08You had enough time.
04:09Let's be clear.
04:10You are coming up with all the points which...
04:12No, ma'am, ma'am, ma'am.
04:13All that point is for Guru Prakash Paswan to respond.
04:16This will not happen like your friends and fancies.
04:18It is your show.
04:19Thank you for inviting me.
04:20But give me my fair chance.
04:22Give me my fair chance.
04:23Now, Maria, another question, very vital, rises here.
04:28Why Mr. Gyanesh Kumar, the CEC, declared Bihar voters to be 7.42 crores right ahead of
04:35the election?
04:36And now when the result is declared, it is 7.45 crores.
04:40Where has those, where has this 3 lakh, where have these voters come from?
04:47Why are these questions not bothering you or any well-thinking person?
04:52No, because I'll tell you, ma'am.
04:54I'll tell you why it's not bothering me.
04:56Because as a reporter on the ground, I did not see any resonance for the Congress party.
05:01I did not see any resonance or the issues resonating with people on the ground.
05:06I did not see it on the ground, so I will not be, I will not be buying into your theory.
05:11But yes, please go ahead, Guru Prakash Paswan, please respond.
05:14Please go ahead, Guru Prakash Paswan.
05:15You were not alone on the ground.
05:16We were all on the ground.
05:17Guru Prakash Paswan.
05:18Our people were on the ground.
05:20Guru Prakash Paswan.
05:21Maria, I think we have heard her sufficiently.
05:26So, see, did you hear Mr. Papu Yadav complain about the SIR process?
05:30Absolutely not.
05:31Mr. Papu Yadav have been on the ground.
05:33And like you said and acknowledged, sir, you are on the ground.
05:35The Delhi-based leaders, the Delhi-based establishment of the Congress party, the entitled, the privileged
05:43and the dynast ones.
05:44Mr. Pavan Khaira, they come in six months, they stay in the hotel, they stay in the hotel
05:47and they go and they go.
05:49They all have the Delhi-based leaders of Congress, it was their narrative.
05:54The fake narrative of false propaganda around the Supreme Court, around the SIR process was
05:59manufactured by the Delhi-based Congress intellectuals.
06:01You have to realize this.
06:02As far as SIR is concerned, Maria, we have faith in the Supreme Court of India.
06:06The Supreme Court of India on multiple occasions said, SIR, Rahul Gandhi ji ke Parnana ke
06:11samai hua.
06:12SIR, Rahul Gandhi ji ke Pita ji ke samai hua.
06:14SIR, Rahul Gandhi ji ke Dadi ke samai hua.
06:16SIR is a regular, constitutional, legal, transparent process.
06:20For God's sake, I think Congress party needs to have leaders on the ground.
06:25You need to have here on the ground.
06:26Okay, Rashid Kitwai, Rashid Kitwai, as someone who has...
06:29Mr. Krishna Alavaru, who is apparently a water...
06:31Absolutely.
06:32I am going to speak about Krishna Alavaru as well.
06:36Krishna Alavaru, have we bring in Rashid Kitwai?
06:39Rashid Kitwai will speak now.
06:43Rashid Kitwai, Rashid Kitwai on the screen.
06:45Rashid, the question really is that is the Congress knocking at wrong doors?
06:51Because the reality is, Rashid, SIR was not an issue on the ground.
06:59After vote Adikari Yatra, Tirasvi Yadav carried out Bihar Adikari Yatra and then he spoke about
07:05jobs.
07:06He understood SIR was not an issue.
07:08That's why it was not even mentioned in the joint manifesto.
07:12Then came what?
07:13Soon after the announcement of the model code of conduct, did any rallies happen?
07:19Did any consultation happen?
07:20For 10 days, there was no political activity on the part of Mahagadband?
07:24Maria, we must understand election is a complex phenomenon.
07:32You've been on the ground.
07:33So, you know, it is very...
07:35There are a lot of factors they get in.
07:37Remember, this was also an election that took place after Operation Sindur and after the
07:42the government of India's tussle at the foreign affairs manner with Donald Trump.
07:47And, you know, this is a reflection of a lot of factors that were there.
07:51Now, you see, the elections should be conducted in free and fair manner.
07:56I think if there is any mandate of any nature, that would not mean, you know, we have first
08:01passed the post system.
08:02That does not mean that it is an endorsement or rejection of that issue.
08:06So, we must have, you know, free and fair elections.
08:09And if a political party is raising, it is for the election commission to appoint a sort
08:14of inquiry, a form of committee, etc.
08:16Then they should actually approach the election commission and say that there is a fraud.
08:19Absolutely.
08:20At the same time...
08:21And second, second, Rashid, because when the final list, when the list was prepared after
08:27the deletion, it was put out by the election commission.
08:31Did any of the parties file an affidavit that the names were deleted?
08:35That is my question.
08:36First, second, after one moment.
08:38Because I've covered this election very closely and I followed the entire SIR exercise and
08:44the petitions that were challenged in the Supreme Court as well.
08:47That's why I'm raising these questions.
08:48Second, Rashid, Rashid, Rashid, one moment.
08:51I have another question, please.
08:53Second, when the first phase of election happened, I'm sure all these political parties in Mahagat
09:01Bandhan had their booth representatives, could they find a single voter whose name was not
09:11there in the list and he was a legitimate voter?
09:14For four days, there's a gap of the first phase is on 6th, the next phase is on 11th.
09:21Four days gap.
09:22What happens?
09:23Is there a single voter in Bihar who's not given a right to exercise his vote despite of his name,
09:29despite of him being a legitimate voter?
09:31Come on.
09:32What are we talking about here?
09:34Maria, I'm making a limited point that, you know, it was a fierce electoral contest.
09:39Political parties and formations, you know, had their sort of vote percentage and that is
09:44not a great, you know, qualitative change.
09:47It is said that the seed, the outcome has been very different and perhaps a shocker for the
09:52opposition in the sense of the quantum of defeat.
09:54But my friend, what Rajas City was saying is I think it's highly inappropriate and uncalled
10:00for to say that the opposition should not contest if they don't have righty.
10:03See, the opposition, Maria, let me remind the Congress's opposition was also in opposition
10:08for decades and they also had a tie-up, you know, I remember VPC government was supported
10:13by both the left and the Bhandi Janda party.
10:16Rajas City, a quick response and then I'll give the last word to Mahima Singh.
10:18The Prime Minister makes up, you know, fun of other formations.
10:21Rajas City, respectfully, I said that people who are the so-called advisors of the Congress
10:26are advising them not to contest.
10:28I, by all means, would be very happy that at least this Tamarsha will stop.
10:32Please don't contest for the next 10 years.
10:34Nothing will happen to this country.
10:36We'll be similar as a nation.
10:38There'll be a lot of regional parties which will emerge.
10:40Let Congress party take a break.
10:41Take a break for 10 years, then come back.
10:44Follow the Khalidazia model as one of your principal advisors is trying to suggest to you.
10:49See, come on, there has to be some way in which you need to appreciate the mandate.
10:54You're not sitting in those countries where peaceful transition of power does not happen.
10:58This is not sub-Saharan Africa or this is not Pakistan-Afghanistan kind of a country.
11:03Everybody is cognizant and aware.
11:06Our democracy runs in our vessels.
11:09It's not so easy to snatch away the right of a voter that easily.
11:13Mahima, Mahima, Mahima.
11:15The time is there for the Congress to introspect.
11:19Why indulge in blame game?
11:20There are important five elections coming up next year.
11:24Get your house in order.
11:25Come up with a strategy.
11:27And play on the field rather than indulge in this kind of punching bag strategy.
11:32Thank you, but no thank you, Maria.
11:37I would have been happy if you for once told the BJP ahead of Lok Sabha elections that why
11:43freeze the accounts of your principal opposition party?
11:46I would be happy if you questioned the BJP, why were those four special trains run?
11:51I would have been happy if you would have questioned the BJP, why has the election machinery
11:56been demolished in this country piece by piece in collusion with their sycophants occupying
12:01the chairs in the election commission, the top chairs.
12:05So you see, Maria, all your questions are misplaced.
12:08Your priorities probably.
12:09So now I'm the punching bag.
12:11Guru, throughout the entire SIR exercise, all the questions that I've raised on the election
12:18commission, all the election commission, all the election commission questions that I've
12:24raised has been brushed under the carpet because this is the convenient way now.
12:29Convenient way.
12:30Very convenient way.
12:31Why?
12:31That's the reasonable questions, Maria.
12:33That is what concerns us.
12:35Very convenient way.
12:36Dr. Guru Prakash, pass one, 30 seconds.
12:38When I was raising questions on the functioning of the constitutional institution like the election
12:44commission, then you did not have an issue.
12:46Today I'm saying that you have to get your house in order.
12:48Then you are having an issue.
12:49Please go ahead, Dr. Guru Prakash, pass one.
12:54No, no, Maria, this is exactly the problem.
12:56You and I both, we belong to Bihar and we have seen the glory and the decay of Sadaqat Ashram.
13:02The Sadaqat Ashram is the Congress party headquarters.
13:04The Congress party needs to rethink, the Congress party needs to innovate, the Congress party
13:13needs to energize their ground carders because I, for one, we believe that the Congress party
13:18has a presence in about every district of the country, but the leadership has stopped
13:23reimagining.
13:24The leadership has stopped talking about themselves.
13:26The leadership is generally going about what Mr. Rahul Gandhi is saying upwards.
13:30The politics in Bihar, in a state like Bihar, which is a very politically conscious state,
13:35you think as a Bihari, as a conscious Bihari, anyone can disenfranchise me and I'll just
13:40stay silent.
13:42This is not any other state.
13:43I mean, respect to the political consciousness of the other states as well, but Bihar is highly
13:47political conscious.
13:48You have to disenfranchise people of Bihar and there will be no Kranti in Bihar.
13:52This is unbelievable.
13:53This is unimaginable.
13:55Bihar is a seat where the first voice of resistance against emergency also started.
13:58This discussion, Professor Subodh Mehta, Mahi Singh, Dr. Kuprakash Maswan, Rashid Kidwai
14:05and Rajat Sethi, thank you for joining us.
14:08Let's not forget that this is a mandate for the NDA.
14:12High time, the opposition, the Mahagatbandan realizes that they did not get it right, that
14:17their political calculation did not work.
14:20They could have expanded their social base.
14:22That did not happen.
14:23And of course, their vote share is similar to 2020.
14:26But could they have got their strategy right?
14:30They have not.
14:31Let's be clear.
14:32A mandate similar to 2010 for a chief minister who has been in office for 20 years?
14:37Imagine what the message that is coming in from the voters of Bihar.
14:43These other non-state impact that has been in trouble.
14:52There was noamour of the air that was as many for the voters of Bihar.
14:55And, one liberty, a Чер creme has extended its politicalten там, and looped up, you know what
15:02it must function to match in public and to be completed.
15:05They may continue to want to connect with the city leaders of Bihar.
Recommended
3:59
|
Up next
Be the first to comment